Dark Sects

In which the investigators foil the plans of Nyarlathotep

June 21, 1924
After several weeks of traveling, the investigators finally reached Shanghai. While shipboard, they managed to recruit a new member, Judd. The first order of business was to check in with the New China paramilitary group to see how the plans for the raid on the Order of the Bloated Woman stronghold on Grey Dragon Island were shaping up. The party sought to contact Jack Brady by placing a prearranged ad in the classified section of the newspaper.

June 22, 1924
Jack Brady contacted the group by telephone and informed them that the members of New China were prepared at any time to assault the island. Furthermore, the sage Mu Hsien had finished translating The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan and now had the spell necessary to repair the ward broken by the Order of the Bloated Woman, but it would take Mu Hsien a week to teach the spell to a member of the party. Courvoisier volunteered to be the one to learn the spell.

The spell called for a quantity of blood from an innocent. The party made a quick stop at a local university where a hefty reward convinced a student to donate a unit of blood.

June 29, 1924
With the spell memorized and all the supplies gathered, the party contacted Jack Brady and informed him that they were ready for the raid. Brady told the investigators to meet him at the docks the next day at dawn.

June 30, 1924
As the sun broke over the horizon, the party boarded one of the converted fishing boats that made up New China’s flotilla. Several quiet hours passed as the boats skipped across the waves. The New China soldiers checked their rifles and talked nervously among themselves. By mid-morning, a lone island could be seen in the distance. Jack Brady identified it as Grey Dragon Island. As the ragtag armada drew closer, the wail of a klaxon could be heard over the noise of the boat’s engine. The cultists had spotted the invaders and raised the alarm.

Jack Brady informed the party that the first objective was to destroy the village housing the majority of cultists. The secondary objective was to find the cult headquarters, destroy the cult leadership, and cast the warding spell that would keep Nyarlathotep from entering our dimension.

The boats smashed into the island at full speed, grounding themselves on the beach. The New China soldiers and the party leaped out into the waist-deep water and began wading ashore. Sporadic gun fire came from the woods leading up to the beach as the cultists attempted to put up a defense. The party followed Jack Brady’s lead as he threw himself down on the sand and began firing at cultists.

After what seemed like an age, Jack Brady arose and called out for the New China soldiers to follow him to the village. The troops rushed through the jungle and came upon a collection of crude huts that housed the most degenerate of the cultists. The ensuing combat was brutal and no quarter was given to the cultists.

After the last cultist lay slain and the wounded had been tended to, Jack Brady gathered the party and several of his most elite troops. “Now we strike at the heart of the Order,” he said, and the group began marching toward the great volcano that dominated island’s skyline. After going several miles through the jungle, the trail led to an enormous cave. Just inside the cave were two massive steel doors that had been closed. The party’s cache of dynamite made short work of them, however.

After the smoke had cleared, the investigators, Brady, and several of the New China soldiers descended a stone stairway and came out in great cavern. Dominating the scene was a seventy foot tall rocket suspended by cranes over a massive pit of magma. To the sides were bubbling pools of water and cages holding prisoners for sacrifice.

In which the investigators encounter one of the principals of the Carlyle Expedition

May 31, 1924
The thirty captives freed by David Dodge soon realized that they had no way of escaping the ancient city and began to congregate outside of the large three-story building that had been their erstwhile prison. Having little better to do, they followed Dodge as he made his way back to the main party and Kakakatak.

The prisoners gasped at the sight of the Kakakatak, but through telepathy the alien was able to convince them that it meant no harm. Since the party shared no common language with the prisoners, Kakakatak was obliged to telepathically instruct the prisoners that they must follow the party to the exit of the ancient city.

As the massive group made its way through the tunnels heading toward the elevator, lamps from miner’s helmets appeared in the distance. The opposing force was none other than Huston and his acolytes returning from their excavations. Shots began to ring out in the subterranean darkness. Those with lightning guns began to fire while those with pistols moved up to closer range. The prisoners, eager to exact revenge on their captors, rushed forward towards Huston and his henchmen.

As Afaafa ran toward the cultists, she was struck by a bolt from a lightning gun. The massive jolt of electricity was enough to kill her instantly and to detonate the several sticks of dynamite she was carrying.

The cultists were quickly overwhelmed despite inflicting heavy losses among the former captives. Huston, laying mortally wounded in the dust, began an eerie, undulating chant. As Courvoisier walked up to dispatch the cult leader, the madman cried out, “You may kill me, but my revenge will reach from beyond the grave!” Almost immediately, the party began to hear the roaring winds and high pitched chittering of a flying polyp. While the prisoners scattered in terror, Courvoisier held his ground and coolly annihilated the fearsome beast with shots from his lightning gun.

Having destroyed the cult leadership, the surviving investigators and prisoners made their way to the elevator leading up to the surface. A quick scuffle with the two guards posted at the entrance ensued, but the issue was quickly settled with a blast from James’ shotgun.

Feeling they had broken the back of the Cult of the Sand Bat, the investigators commandeered one of the Daimler trucks sitting on the surface and slowly made their way back to Darwin. Once there, they bade farewell to David Dodge who had had quite enough excitement to last him a lifetime and set sail for Shanghai where they planned on a final confrontation with Sir Aubry Penhew.

In which the investigators meet a new and unusual ally

May 31, 1924
The investigators having been exhausted by their exploration of the underground city, made camp in a hallway leading out of the cultist temple. After a restless few hours of rest, the party was awoken by a group of people walking down the corridor. The group withdrew to the shadows to observe the newcomers. The party consisted of two men with goads herding a group of slack-jawed men dressed in work clothes. After following the group for some distance, the investigators decided to instead investigate the source of this work gang.

After thirty minutes or so of walking down the passageway, the investigators came to a large open space with a newly built three story building in the middle. Several halls branched off the clearing, so the party elected to keep exploring. They picked a corridor and followed it. That route lead them to a room, small by the standards of the underground city, with a large pit in the middle ringed by electric lights on poles. Rather than face the unknown contents of the abyss, the investigators chose to return to the three story building.

Leaving David Dodge as a lookout, the rest of the party open the door to the building and ventured inside. The first floor contained mining and construction equipment along with a locked chest marked “explosives.” A large ramp lead up to the second floor.

Cages filled with Aboriginal prisoners filled the second floor. As soon as the investigators appeared, a great hue and cry went up from the prisoners. However, the cages were locked with a non-mechanical and alien lock. Giving up on releasing the prisoners for the moment, the party continued to the third floor.

The third floor was arranged as a rough apartment complete with camp stove, workbench, and a crude desk. The party performed a thorough search of the dwelling. They found a large manuscript entitled Gods of Reality seemingly written by Huston. Also found were numerous document cases filled with strange almost plastic sheets covered in the writing that the party had seen on the walls of the underground city. The group quickly snatched up a lightning gun and strange copper bowl laying on the desk. A strange helmet attached to a large power supply sat in the corner. Rather than attempt to divine its purpose, the party ripped the wires off. On the way back down, the investigators smashed open the lock on the explosives locker and borrowed liberally from the ample supply of dynamite.

Next the party ventured down one of the smaller corridors that branched off of the main plaza. A twenty minute walk brought them to a large room divided into three sections. The first room was filled with electronic equipment of every type, much of it unfamiliar and technologically superior to anything in the investigators experience. The next section contained a massive control board covered with dials, knobs, and switches. Wires leading from the control board attached to both a divan and an operating table with restraints. Unable to fathom the purpose of this device, the party moved to the third room.

The third room contained a workbench with electrical equipment and an arch leading into another room. The arch had curious holes drilled in the surface facing the floor. In the shadows of the room, the party could see a large pyramidal shape that began to stir with their approach. As Afaafa approached, the creature lifted its head and unwound two long arms with claws on the end. The creature then began to communicate with Afaafa telepathically. It introduced itself as Kakakatak and explained that it came from the far future. Huston had used a spell to summon it from its own time and trap it in the present.

Kakakatak asked the investigators to free it and promised them information on Huston’s operation in return for their aid. The party agreed and disabled the fuse box connected to the force field that imprisoned Kakakatak. Immediately, the creature scurried out of the room and bade investigators to follow it. In a nearby structure, Kakakatak opened from a seemingly sheer wall a cabinet containing several lightening guns. It warned the investigators of the danger posed by flying polyps. Once armed, Kakakatak explained that it needed to access the city’s archives so that it could build a device that would propel it to its own time.

David Dodge asked Kakakatak if it could fashion a key to open the cages filled with prisoners in the headquarters they had. The strange being assented and quickly fashioned a device from the electronic components in its erstwhile prison. Dodge quickly ran back to the three story building and unlocked the cages. The prisoners shouted in triumph and streamed past Dodge as they fled.

In which the investigators explore a lost city

May 30, 1924
Having passed through the portal, the party found itself in a large cavern populated with fifteen or so of the creatures that had led them through the portal. David Dodge identified them as Mimis – spirits from the Aboriginal Dreamtime. One of the Mimis stepped forward and began drawing rapidly on the wall. Although their understanding was imperfect, the investigators gathered that Mimis wanted the investigators to attack and kill a creature that had been preying on the Mimis. Once the Mimis were satisfied that the investigators got the idea, the lead Mimi led the party through another portal.

The group exited in a long, pitch black hallway. After turning on their flashlights, the party found itself near the opening of a shaft of indeterminate depth. Attached to the shaft by hinges was a giant stone lid with latches. It took all the investigators’ strength, but they were able to close the lid. Unfortunately, they neglected to fasten the latches. As they debated what to do next, a massive flying polyp burst through the lid and began assaulting the investigators with its devastating wind attacks. Most of the party was instantly driven into a state of pure terror and fled into the darkness. Twofer was killed in the initial onslaught, but Dick managed to retain his wits and began firing at the polyp from a distance. Despite his bravery, Dick was killed by the polyp which then began to feed on his corpse.

Once the rest of the party had returned to sanity, they spotted a tiny gleam of light in the distance. As they approached, they recognized it to be a light bulb and the end of a long line of them. While investigating a nearby generator, the party stumbled across an alien looking weapon, obviously designed for non-human hands. While debating which end of the weapon was the business end, the party spotted another light in the tunnel and soon enough determined it to be the helmet light of a maintenance worker. The worker fled as soon as he spotted the party, but he was run down and brought unwillingly back to the group.

The worker proudly identified himself as a member of the Cult of the Sand Bat and revealed that the cult was being run by Robert Huston, a member of the Carlyle Expedition. The worker also explained that the weapon the party had found was a lightening gun and was especially effective against flying polyps. After interrogating the worker, the group coolly dispatched him with a pistol shot to the head. Deciding that they could use the body as bait to draw the flying polyp, the investigators hauled the corpse back down the long, dark corridor. Upon hearing the polyp, the group fired the lightning gun and instantly killed the monster.

Deciding to follow the lights, the party made its way through the great stone corridor. Thick dust covered the floor and strange, alien writing adorned the walls. Crumbling edifices blocked with rubble could be seen as the party made its way through the hallway.

Eventually the group reached a great hemispherical room two thousand feet across. In the middle of the room, lay another hemisphere. This one emitted a pulsing, glowing purple light. Near it were a group of statues, horrible in their visage. And behind the statues, three shapeless, rumpled bat-things. As the investigators grew closer to the center of the room the bat-things started to stir, but the wise investigators retreated to the edge of the room and slowly made their way around the perimeter of the room. Across the room from the entrance, another dark hallway stretched out before them.

In which the investigators avail themselves of an unusual means of transport

May 16, 1924
While on their voyage, the investigators became acquainted with their fellow passenger, David Dodge. Dodge came to learn that the party has some experience with the unexplained and confides the purpose of his travel. Dodge had come into possession of a field journal belonging to Arthur MacWhirr. MacWhirr had been on a expedition into the Outback in 1921. During the trek, MacWhirr’s group discovered the remains of an ancient city that pre-dated human civilization. The group was driven off from the site by a night time attack on the camp by Aborigines and something else large and shadowy. MacWhirr, now too infirmed to mount a second expedition, gave his notes and journal to Dodge, a professor of archaeology. Dodge proposes that the investigators join his endeavor and the investigators agree.

May 17, 1924
Dodge and the party take the daily train to Cuncudgerie where Dodge plans on outfitting his expedition and hiring on laborers. Dodge stated that outfitting the expedition will take a week, giving the group enough time to search for clues in Cuncudgerie.

That night at the hotel bar, the party overheard two laborers discussing the tale of a seemingly crazy American who hired on two dozen men to travel with him into the bush, dig a shaft thirty feet deep, and then dismissed all the men. Upon questioning the two men believe the American bloke’s name was John Carver and his outfitting was done right in Cuncudgerie by Mortimer Wycroft.

May 18, 1924
The party decided to follow up on the rumor and goes to interview Wycroft. Wycroft’s dilapidated store sits on the outskirts of the town. Upon arriving, the party observe three Aborigines working lackadaisically outside the store and Wycroft inside. Wycroft denied any knowledge of a John Carver and was generally brusque and unhelpful.

Hoping for something more concrete, the investigators go to the assayer’s office concluding that any miner would have passed through the office as some point or another. The assayer told them that he had never heard of John Carver.

Determined that Wycroft knew more than he was letting on, the party returned to the store late that night and broke in. Inside they found a file on John Carver, but with the name in quotations indicating that it was perhaps an alias. On the way out, the party helped themselves to several sticks of dynamite.

May 19, 1924
Having concluded that the investigators were fond of tall tales, the regulars at the hotel bar told them about Mad Ginger Muldoon’s claims of encountering a ghost at Dingo Falls. The party tracked Muldoon to his favorite drinking spot and found him throughly intoxicated but willing to tell his tale.

Muldoon claimed he was camping near Dingo Falls when a figure wreathed in flame, its face in a silent scream, entered his camp and began moving toward him. Muldoon claimed he fought the creature with a stick although more than likely he fled into the night. Muldoon warned the investigators that Dingo Falls near property owned by the Slattery family: a group of degenerate drunkards who wouldn’t hesitate to brandish guns at presumed trespassers.

May 24, 1924
Dodge had successfully outfitted his expedition with two Daimler trucks and all the supplies necessary for an exploratory dig. The group departed that morning into the vast stretches of the Outback.

May 30, 1924
Having spent six days in the Outback, contending with the relentless heat, dust, and ever present mechanical problems, the party was surprised when an astonishingly tall figure stepped out from behind a boulder and raised its hand in greeting. The creature was humanoid, but stood at least seven and a half feet tall. Its fingers were long and spidery and it wore nothing but a loincloth.

The investigators approached the creature who then began drawing rapidly in the sand. It drew a crude diagram depicting a group of people entering some sort of portal. Satisfied that the investigators understood its meaning, it touched a nearby boulder which promptly split in two. A gauzy veil of air hung between the two pieces of the boulder. Anxious at first, the investigators proposed to send some members through and leave others behind, but the creature seemed insistent that all present make their way through the portal. Taking a deep breath, the party stepped through the veil.

In which the investigators find a strange device

April 28, 1924
James and Afaafa stood over the body of the wounded sea captain. Realizing that authorities would soon be there, the two ran down an alley, threw the incriminating gun into the river, and took a circuitous route back to the party’s headquarters.

Meanwhile, Jon was exploring the warehouse belonging to cult leader Ho Fong. After looking over the rocket parts found in the hidden storeroom, Jon stealthily crept upstairs to have a look in Ho Fong’s office. Most of the documents were in Chinese, but Jon did encounter some navigational charts of the region surrounding Gray Dragon Island, the headquarters of the Order of the Bloated Woman. Taking the charts with him, Jon slipped out of the warehouse undetected and made his way to rendezvous with the rest of the party.

April 29, 1924
With their additional information, the party decided to talk with the paramilitary group New China and attempt to coordinate plans for foiling the machinations occurring on Gray Dragon Island. The leader of New China, Chu Min, urged patience and told the investigators that they would be ready to assault the island in two months. Rather than wait for that long, the party decided to venture to Australia in hopes of discovering the third summoning site.

April 30, 1924
The investigators board a freighter bound for Darwin.

May 7, 1924
The investigators arrive in Darwin. Shipping labels on the crates in Ho Fong’s warehouse indicated that cargo was being sent to Australia care of the Randolph Shipping Company. The investigators decided to observe the warehouse of Randolph Shipping Company for a couple days before taking action.

May 9, 1924
The investigators learned that the proprietor, Toddy Randolph, unfailingly goes to the local pub at the end of the work day. Afaafa made her way to the pub and struck up a conversation with Toddy Randolph. Beguiled by Afaafa, Randolph readily agreed when she suggested they go back to his home, which happened to be a filthy cot inside the warehouse. Once in the warehouse, Afaafa attempted to fend off Randolph’s advances while clumsily attempting to rifle through his account books. After finding an interesting ledger, Afaafa turned and sprinted out the door. Randolph chased her for half a block before his distinct lack of athleticism caught up to him.

In the ledger, the investigators discovered that Randolph is receiving goods from the cult and forwarding them on to Cuncudgerie deep in the Australian interior. In the book, beside the incriminating shipments the party noticed a symbol that they are unfamiliar with.

May 10, 1924
The next day, the investigators broke into the Randolph Shipping Company during Toddy’s daily trip to the pub. Inside the warehouse, the party encountered several crates marked with the same symbol they found in Randolph’s ledger. Prying open one of the crates, the team found a strange device composed of rods, mirrors, gears, and what appears to be an eye tube. The investigators took the device and quickly departed the premises.

Back at the hotel, Afaafa decided to peer into the eye tube. Suddenly, her face contorted into a series of awful distortions and grimaces. The rest of the team rushed to her aid, but she appeared to be in some sort of coma.

May 11, 1924
Afaafa seemingly awoke from her coma, but did not appear to be herself. She refused to speak to the investigators and instead attempted to read every scrap of printed material that could be found in the hotel room. When she attempted to leave the hotel room, the rest of the party was forced to restrain her.

May 13, 1924
Despite Afaafa’s condition, the investigators decided to take a ship to Port Hedland and then travel overland to Cuncudgerie. Aboard the ship, Afaafa grew increasingly restless and could only be appeased by being brought more reading material. Navigational charts proved especially intriguing to her.

May 15, 1924
Late in the evening, Afaafa suddenly and inexplicably came to her senses. She began to speak again and apparently had no recollection of the past few days. The investigators could only speculate as to who or what had inhabited her body.

In which the investigators become interested in a luxury yacht

April 27, 1924
After seeing how thoroughly mad Roger Carlyle had gone, the party decided to leave him in the care of the asylum. The group then traveled back to Shanghai to continue following leads. A search of the library for information on the half of the strange warding symbol given to the investigators by Jack Brady yielded nothing.

April 28, 1924
Jack Brady had also told the group that The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan was being translated by a scholar named Mu Hsien. The party went to Hsien to see what information had been revealed to him so far. Hsien was still several weeks away from completing the translation, but he did have some information to impart. The Order of the Bloated Woman, the Chinese arm of the Nyarlathotep cult, was actively working to summon their goddess to Earth, but before the summoning could be successful some sort of poisoning of the sky must occur. Hsien then told the party that it was too dangerous for them to meet him in person anymore and he gave a false name for which the party could leave messages at the Shanghai post office.

The party then decided to investigate Sir Aubry Penhew’s ship the Dark Mistress. At the harbor master’s office they were able to determine the ship had a British registry. Later the party spotted the actual ship tied up by the docks near the warehouse of known cult member Ho Fong. After some careful observation, the investigators determined the ship had six crew members all of whom were wearing the same medallion.

The party then took a trip to the abandoned warehouse where the New China paramilitary organization performed its training and had its weapons cache. Although cautioned by New China’s leader Chu Min, the party decided to attempt to sneak onto the ship that night. Min was able to supply the party with a silencer.

That evening the party decided to split up. James and Afaafa would attempt to keep the captain of the ship, a known alcoholic, busy while the others attempted to sneak onto the ship. As the ship’s captain, Jules Savoyard, stumbled off the ship to head to the nearest bar, Afaafa noticed that the man had visible symptoms of radiation sickness. At the bar, Afaafa plied Savoyard with drinks and attempted to get Savoyard to divulge some interesting information. Savoyard was more interested in Afaafa’s being a woman than in any questions she had to ask.

Afaafa eventually invited Savoyard back to her hotel room but soon came to regret the decision as the captain was deeply intoxicated and extremely unattractive to boot. Desperate to get out of the situation, Afaafa signaled to James who had been watching surreptitiously. James attempted to whisk Afaafa away, but the drunken Savoyard took exception to another man intruding on his private conversation with an attractive woman. Savoyard pulled out his pistol, but James beat him to the punch and fired first. Savoyard was hit and grievously wounded, but before collapsing to the ground managed to return fire and injure James.

Meanwhile, at the Dark Mistress, Courvoisier bungled his attempt to sneak onto the gangway and alerted the crew who came out to give hard looks at the interlopers. Not discouraged by their setback, Jon decided to instead attempt to sneak into Ho Fong’s warehouse. He easily picked the lock and sneaked into the shadows cautiously avoiding the five guards sitting around a table in the middle of the warehouse playing cards. Jon slowly made his way to the offices of Ho Fong. While exploring the first floor portion of the office, Jon discovered a loose stair. Quietly prying the tread from the riser, Jon found himself looking into a storeroom. Jon lowered himself into the storeroom and struck a match to examine its contents. He was able to glimpse several horrifying statues and obscene paintings, but his interest was immediately attracted to several crates marked “A.P.” Despite the risk of alerting the guards, Jon pried open one of the crates and revealed machined parts made of aluminum. Despite his meager knowledge of physics, Jon miraculously recognized the items as being parts to a rocket.

In which the investigators make contact with the man they have been searching for

April 2, 1924
Still desperate to find Jack Brady, the investigators left a letter with Charles Grey and pleaded with him to deliver it to Brady. They then spent the day combing the Rangoon docks searching for anyone who had even seen Brady.

April 3, 1924
Defeated in their search for Brady, the party decided to return to Shanghai.

April 13, 1924
Arriving back in Shanghai, the party decided to place an advertisement in the local English newspaper imploring Brady to contact them. While at the newspaper, Mr. Echo decided to search the archives for any interesting articles. He came across a piece describing a fire at a monastery the killed several. The interesting portion of the article described the flame as almost acting as a living entity following the fleeing victims from structure to structure as well as the fact that a European man was last seen in the vicinity of the fire. The article gave the name and address of a witness so the party decided to contact him.

April 14, 1924
The investigators questioned the witness to the fire who, when shown a photo of Brady, confirmed that Brady was the man he had seen leaving the scene just before the fire broke out. The party then went to the monastery itself and interviewed the head monk. The monk told them that Brady had been to the monastery looking for someone to translate a book titled The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, but none of the resident monks had the requisite skill. The group asked the monk who else in Shanghai would be capable of such a translation and received a lengthy list of names.

April 19, 1924
The investigators spend the next five days inquiring after all the names on the list they were given. None of the people on the list will admit to having seen Brady, but Afaafa does notice that she was being followed by a short, squat Chinese man. During the same time, Mr. Echo puts another advertisement in the Shanghai Courier advertising that he has found a copy of The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan and is seeking to return it to its rightful owner. A few days later, Mr. Echo is contacted by post from one Lin Tang Yu claiming the book is his. Mr. Echo arranges a meeting with Yu in a public area.

April 20, 1924
Mr. Echo and Yu met. Yu quickly found out that the party did not in fact possess his book and he stormed out of the restaurant with his guards in tow. Meanwhile, James had been frequenting The Stumbling Tiger bar hoping to find the drunk who had followed them the last time they had been in Shanghai. James’ hunch paid off and that evening the drunk reappeared at the bar. James buttonholed the man and after some persuading the man revealed himself to be Isoge Taro, an agent of the Japanese Empire sent to Shanghai to investigate rumors of a super-weapon being built by the Communists. Taro told James that Brady had allied himself with a nationalist paramilitary group called New China. Taro believe that New China was training for a conflict with the Communists.

April 21, 1924
James went to the seemingly abandoned warehouse were New China had its headquarters. After a brief discussion with the guard, James was ushered in to meet the leader of New China, Chu Min. James proceeded to tell Chu Min everything that had befallen the party since New York. Chu Min listened to his tale carefully, told him Jack Brady would be in contact, and bid him good day.

April 22, 1924
The party was gathered at The Stumbling Tiger bar. Suddenly, a man in his early 40s strode up to the table and said, “I’m Jack Brady. I hear you’ve been looking for me.” Brady then proceeded to give the party an insider’s report on what actually happened to the Carlyle expedition. Brady described Roger Carlyle’s night climb up the Red Pyramid that resulted in an explosion accompanied by screams and a blinding red flash. According to Brady, Carlyle had broken one of the wards that kept Nyarlathotep from entering this dimension. Brady went on to recount Roger Carlyle, Robert Huston, Aubrey Penhew, and Hypatia Masters’ strange disappearance while they were exploring the Bent Pyramid. Carlyle later claimed to have been visiting ancient Egypt. Brady described an unspeakable rite that occurred shortly thereafter in which a number of the Arab diggers were consumed by creatures emerging from the earth. At that point Brady decided that he must separate Carlyle from the rest of the group. While the party was in Kenya preparing to go into the interior, Brady drugged Carlyle and gave the rest of the expedition the slip. At first Carlyle seemed to return to normal after being separated from the others, but soon he began having terrible nightmares that drove him mad. Brady had no choice but to put Carlyle in an insane asylum in Hong Kong under a false name before continuing to Shanghai.

Brady answered a few questions and informed the investigators that they had six months before the ritual to release Nyarlathotep would be held. Brady then excused himself and disappeared out into the night.

April 24, 1924
Remembering their obligation to Erica Carlyle, the party traveled to Hong Kong to see Roger Carlyle. What they discovered was a broken shell of a man who had long since taken leave of his senses.

In which the investigators meet a very odd fortuneteller

March 19, 1925
Aboard ship, Courvoisier managed to recruit several others to join him in his quest to stop Nyarlathotep. The group now counted among its members journalist James Johnson, a mysterious African woman named Afaafa, a laconic Nepali known as Mr. Echo, and an soldier of fortune named Jonathan.

The investigators arrive in Shanghai early in the morning. After disembarking, they made a quick trip to the bank and then went looking for The Stumbling Tiger Bar where Nails Nelson had last seen Jack Brady, one of the few Carlyle Expedition members believed to still be alive.

Arriving at the bar, the party met the bartender Fergus Chum. After substantially greasing Chum’s palm, they were told that Brady had fled Shanghai and was now working for an arms dealer named Charles Grey in Rangoon. Crestfallen, the investigators left the bar and James read a newspaper while the rest of the group debated what to do. Their discussion was soon interrupted by Chum who was rousting a drunk who couldn’t pay his bar tab.

James noticed an interesting advertisement in the newspaper for an astrologer promising that he could foretell the future for those beset by dark forces. They persuaded the recently thrown out drunk to lead them to the fortuneteller’s shop.

Outside the shop a grey cat stood mewing at the door. As they entered the shop, Mr. Echo carried the cat inside. They were greeted in the shop by a man who introduced himself as Mr. Lung. The shop was covered in strange bric-a-brac: numerous medallions and amulets hung down from the rafters, scrolls with fierce tigers worked on them hung from the door mantles, and an unlit brazier with a pair of slippers in it rested in the corner.

As Mr. Lung began making smalltalk in Mandarin, Mr. Echo noticed that the drunk had lead them to the shop was across the street smoking a cigarette. Inside the store, Mr. Lung began acting in an increasingly erratic manner. First he attempted to sell each of the investigators one of the necklaces hanging from the ceiling. When the investigators showed little interest, Mr. Lung invited them to sit down and learn their fortunes. Once seated, Mr. Lung attempted to give the group a large pile of fake money. The group showed little interest in the ersatz currency. Mr. Lung then jumped up and offered the group tea; Courvoisier and James chose to indulge. Before bringing the tea to the table, Mr. Lung went and lit the brazier in the corner. The horrible odor of burning shoes began to fill the store. The grey cat attempted to find a place in the room as far from the brazier as possible.

Afaafa decided to covertly explore the living quarters behind the shop and got up to nominally use the bathroom. Mr. Lung then began attempting to tell the party’s fortune. Courvoisier and James began to notice a hint of drowsiness. Meanwhile, Afaafa had gone into the storage room at the top of the stairs. The room contained some old furniture and a large cabinet covered in carvings and lined with mirrors.

Courvoisier and James’ sleepiness turned into unconsciousness. Seeing his friends had obviously been drugged, Mr. Echo leapt up to grab Mr. Lung. But Mr. Lung escaped his grasp and ran up to the storage room. Seeing Afaafa examining the inside of the cabinet, Mr. Lung rushed up behind her and threw her into the cabinet closing the door behind her. Afaafa immediately began to notice a curious sense of diminishing as though her life-force were being drained away. By this time Mr. Echo — with the grey cat behind him — had caught up to Mr. Lung and put a knife to his throat. Mr. Lung began babbling frantically accusing the investigators of being demons sent to destroy him. Lung refused to unlock the cabinet, but a well-placed kick from Mr. Echo changed his mind.

Mr. Echo unlocked the cabinet, released Afaafa, and in a bit of turnabout, threw Mr. Lung into the cabinet. Mr. Lung immediately began banging on the doors, screaming that he would die if left inside. Mr. Echo relented and released Mr. Lung. Everything seemed to be on the road to normalcy when suddenly the grey cat began to metamorphose into a feline demon with gnarled claws and flashing eyes.

Everyone in the storage room attempted to flee. Mr. Echo and Afaafa escaped, but the demon seemed to have business with Mr. Lung. As the party fled the house, with the conscious investigators dragging the unconscious, they heard a series of screams and wails that put their hair on end. A blue flash of light escaped from the window and all was silent.

Tired and frightened, the party headed back to their accommodations.

March 20, 1924
The party returned to Mr. Lung’s shop to see what fate had befallen Mr. Lung. There was no sign of the fortuneteller or the grey cat, but a black scorch mark did feature prominently in the center of the storage room. After rifling through Lung’s belongings, the party concluded that there was little of interest.

March 22, 1924
The party caught a tramp steamer to Rangoon in search of Charles Grey, the man they believed to have see Jack Brady last.

March 31, 1924
Arriving in Rangoon, the investigators immediately sought out Charles Grey. Grey’s office was in a dingy warehouse near the docks. Crates of guns and ammunition were piled high in the warehouse. Grey informed the group that Brady had worked for him as an accountant, but had left several months ago headed to Nicaragua. The party asked for Brady’s address while he was in Rangoon hoping to turn up some more evidence to lead them to Brady.

April 1, 1924
With the aid of a translator, the party went to the boarding house where Grey said Brady had stayed, only to discover that no one at that address had ever seen Brady before. Convinced that Grey was lying, the party began to plot the best way to wring the truth out of Grey.

In which the investigators come face to face with true horror

February 17, 1925
The party spent the day in Nairobi preparing for the formidable journey ahead of them. After stocking up on everything they would need for a trek across the African wilderness, the group departed with Nails Nelson acting as their guide.

February 20, 1925
The group chose to travel along the plains which unfortunately left them vulnerable to the spying eyes of members of the cult of the Bloody Tongue. Midday, the investigators spotted a group of ten armed men with curious red headbands fast approaching them. The group of men signaled their hostile intent when they began throwing spears at the group hitting some of the party. The investigators returned fire. The two groups engaged in a furious fight and the investigators held their ground despite being out-numbered. After seven of the cultists were slain, the other three turned to flee but were killed by the party before they could escape and spread word. Claude suffered a severe wound during the exchange and despite the best efforts of Dr. Courvoisier, Claude bleed to death on the plains of Africa.

February 21, 1925
The investigators began sighting other groups of travelers out on the plains. All the members of these other groups wore the same red headband as the group that ambushed the party earlier. Wisely, the investigators decided to return to the corpses of the slain cult members and don their headbands as a disguise.

February 22, 1925
Large groups of travelers all bearing the headband of the cult were roaming the savannah. All seemed intent on the Mountain of the Black Wind.

February 24, 1925
The party arrives at their destination only to discover a small army of cultists camping at its base. Estimates placed the number of cultists around 10,000. That evening, the evil priestess M’Weru descended from a cave to a bluff overlooking the camp. Overlooking her followers, she shouted, “Tonight is the time of greatness, when our lords sends us his chosen seed! Tonight comes the dread child and its terror to confirm us!” and began to chant strange words in a language unknown to human ears. The multitude quickly picks up the chant and drums begin pounding out the rhythm of the words.

Desperate to halt the ceremony, the group turned to Nails Nelson and trying to persuade him to take a shot with his rifle at the M’Weru. Nelson perceived that any threat of violence against the priestess would result in certain death and declined to fire. Instead he ran. Professor St. Croix cast a spell to summon a servitor of the Outer Gods. The servitor attempted to attack the cultists but was mobbed by hundreds of madmen and torn to shreds before it could do any significant damage.

The casting of the spell incited the crowd so the party split up attempting to melt away into the mass of people. All but Professor St. Croix were successful. St. Croix was seized by the throng of people and beaten to death.

At this point, Courvoisier deemed the situation dire enough to release the chameleon that Old Bundari had gifted them. The chameleon instantly grew to the size of a school bus and began smashing and eating cultists right and left. M’Weru spotted the disturbance and cried out for her followers to destroy the intruders. A horde quickly swarmed over the chameleon stabbing it and firing into it. Unable to withstand such an assault, the chameleon was slain.

Convinced that the interlopers had been dealt with, M’Weru continued the ritual. At this time, the cult began its sacrifices. Dozens of men, women, and children from the surrounding areas were brought forward and brutally dispatched. During this frenzy of bloodshed, the sky began to cloud over and peels of thunder echoed across the plain. Finally, a searing bolt of lighting struck the mountain top and M’Wero shrieked, “He bestrides the mountain as he bestrides the world!” Slowly the hideous god of the Bloody Tongue began to phase in to this reality. The sight was too much for Zuri and Arnold and they were overcome by catatonia, their minds fleeing from the horror that confronted them.

With a wave of his grotesque red tentacle, the avatar of Nyarlathotep caused a stairway to be formed that led up to the temple inside the mountain. The horde surged forward, eager to enter. As the throng rushed beneath Nyarlathotep’s legs, the bloody tentacle scooped up random cultists, smashing those that pleased him and throwing those that did not off the side of the mountain. Only Durry and Courvoisier remained in possession of their faculties, and they bravely ascended the mountain to enter the temple.

Inside another frenzy of bloodletting was occurring. Captives were tossed into pits containing ants that striped the victims of flesh in minutes. At the alter stood M’Weru and a woman with a grotesquely distended stomach lay prone on the alter. The investigators recognized the woman as Hypatia Masters, a member of the Carlyle expedition. At last, M’Weru raised her hands for silence and a deadly stillness filled the temple. Yellow eyes began to glow from within Masters’ stomach. Hypatia let out a scream before exploding into a shower of gore. Masters’ stomach ruptures in a cascade of slime, and the terrifying spawn of Nyarlathotep reached out a tentacle grabbing a cultist and began to feed. After eating, the spawn began to shimmer and slowly transformed into a simulacrum of Hypatia. The crowd grew out of control and began to engage in frenzied singing and dancing until all were exhausted.

February 25, 1925
As the mob exits the temple the next day, the sane investigators lead the still catatonic ones away. Deciding that Zuri’s mind was beyond all help, Durry and Courvoisier cruelly abandoned him to an almost certain death. Arnold was more fortunate and the investigators took him with them on their return journey to Nairobi.

March 1, 1925
Back in Nairobi, Arnold is checked into the same hospital as Lou, and Durry and Courvoisier go to Natalie Smyth-Forbes, the editor of the local newspaper, to inform her of the events they witnessed. Smyth-Forbes listens sympathetically but obviously thought that the group had gone mad.

March 2, 1925
The group returns to Old Bundari to inform him of their failure to stop the ritual. Bundari listened to their tale and informed them that all hope was not lost. The spawn had been born to conduct a gate opening ceremony that would usher Nyarlathotep into this world. There were three wards around the globe (one at the Mountain of the Black Wind, one in China, and one in Australia) that prevented the creation of the gate, but they had been destroyed. Bundari told the investigators that there task was now to find a way to reestablish the wards.

March 3, 1925
The group set sail for Shanghai. During the voyage, Durry is driven mad by his act of abandoning Zuri and he is confined to his quarters.